Learning Expedition - French-Norwegian Open Innovation Forum
The French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce organized in collaboration with Paris & Co a Learning Expedition with the Innovation Managers of 25 Main French Companies (Airbus, Total, Michelin, EDF, Orange…) in order to introduce them to the innovation ecosystem in Norway.
The program started on April 4th with the visit of Oslo’s main start-ups incubators (MESH, Sentralen and Oslo StartupLab), Oslo Tech and the French-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, in order to present our cross-industry projects and accelerator role for French companies in Norway to the delegation. In the evening they had dinner at Frognerseteren in Holmenkollen, with the presence of H.E.M Jean-François Dobelle, French Ambassador to Norway and H.E.M. Rolf Einar Fife, Norwegian Ambassador to France.
On April 5th, the French delegation participated to the first French-Norwegian Open Innovation Forum, with interventions of professionals on how to generate innovation in Norway, and a succession of Start-up battles. Both Ambassadors participated to the forum.
The various interventions showed the Norwegian innovation ecosystem as well as the collaborative management functioning in Norway, and also what France can learn from Scandinavian design in the digital area. The forum was animated by 4 sessions of “Start-up battles”. A selection of 12 Norwegian Start-ups had the opportunity to pitch their projects to the French Corporates for 3 minutes and then answering questions. Viva Labs, from the Oslo StartupLab incubator won the battle with their Smart Home concept and will have the opportunity to enjoy a one-month soft landing program at a Paris&Co incubator free of charge.
The delegation participated then to the Subsea Valley Ice Breaker cocktail organized for the opening of the forum, with the theme « Energy for Innovation – Innovating Energy ». The evening ended with a French After at Mesh incubator.
The Learning Expedition ended on April 6th with the participation of the group to the opening of the Subsea Valley Conference 2016, with the Petroleum and Energy Minister Tord Lien, and Statoil CEO Eldar Sætre. By the end of the morning, still as part of the forum, Albert Meige, founder and CEO of Presans, animated a MasterClass on the theme of « Open Innovation in a Digital World ».
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